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Friday, December 7, 2012

House Party!

So, finally, a house tour. As you might recall, David's house burned down in the Four Mile fire a little over two years ago and it's finally finished being rebuilt. We were not living together at the time, but I was there on the day of the fire and can vouch that it burned to the ground. I can also vouch that the new house is much, much nicer, not only in terms of just better design and better furnishings and schtuff, but also better because it is our house now, rather than just David's house that I lived in.

That's the beauty of home owner's insurance: if your casa incinerates and your insurance company has to pay up you can prolly build a house that you wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. I should add here that a number of people who lost everything in that fire didn't have insurance, and David and I feel very lucky for how this has all worked out for us. (This is despite the incredibly difficult and time-consuming process of rebuilding with a contractor who is a #$%#$^%^.)

So without further ado, here is a tour of the house. I took these photos the day before we left for France, so I was constrained by some bad lighting and having a bunch of crap laying around as we got ready to leave.

The kitchen:

David is particularly proud of the kitchen back splash, since he picked out the color. (It's a deep charcoal-y blue.)

Nikki's Nook, aka the breakfast booth and where I work:

The laundry room: (Woo-wee!)

David's office:

The entryway, looking into the living room:

The guest bathroom:

Guest shower:

Guest bedroom:

The mudroom, complete with a doggy shower on the left and a doggy door straight ahead:

The living room:

Master bedroom:

This was mid-laundry. My bad. And yes, we sleep on the floor.
David spends all of our money on Popsockets so we can't have real beds yet.

Master bathroom:

Bedroom/Bathroom #2:

So, again, I apologize for the crap lighting in some of these pictures. If you want to see more pics with better lighting just let me know.

If I had to sum up the house, I'd say: divine. It is absolutely the nicest home I've ever lived in, and the fact that it's only 12 minutes outside of Boulder is pretty fantastic. I'm not sure I really believe it's my house yet, actually, because I've been renting so long. It's also a little uncomfortable because while our house is relatively small--only 2,100 square feet or so, with three bedrooms--it looks pretty fancy and I think gives the false impression that we are $$$really rich$$$. I mean, we will be rich soon, when Popsockets goes big, but until then not so much. (I should add that compared to the average American household, we are, in fact, very well off. Just not (nearly) as well off as our millionaire neighbors who had an enormous house built just so their son had somewhere to live while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder.)

11 comments:

Wow. Please DO NOT TELL my husband I said this because I have vowed to be more appreciative of what we have (and not have house envy) . . . but I want your kitchen and I want it bad.

It looks like a vacation home except you get to live there all the time. Awesome. Thanks for sharing it!!

I realize there was a fire and maybe that is the answer to my question, but I notice you don't have much on the walls. Your place is very "stuff free." Is that a conscious choice to live more simply, or was everything lost in the fire?

It's pretty nice, isn't it? That really expensive oven in the kitchen was a wedding gift from David's parents, for which we are very thankful. The walls and decor are pretty bare because of the fire and also because we can't afford to furnish the house right now. All the furniture you see actually belongs to a friend of David's who needed it stored. Hopefully someday we get the money together to decorate it all with some careful thought. David and I both like things clean and simple-looking, but what we have now borders on bare and not very warm and cozy.I can't wait to see your new house! I bet you've decorated it with impeccable style... :-)

Ha! Impeccable style. So far only two rooms have even been painted. And if you feel bad on furniture, we don't even own a couch. It's a futon like we are still in college or something. Granted it's a nice futon...wood, queen size, mattress with springs...but still, it's a futon. Also I kinda want to mail you some art for your walls for a christmas gift. Thoughts on this?

I do feel better that you don't have a couch. I keep feeling like I'm going to get kicked out of the grown-ups club because we haven't properly decorated.But seriously, I would guess that you are very thoughtful and that you have a kind of smart style when it comes to decorating and furnishing. I'm basing this off the fact that you fixed something around your house recently. (This impressed me.) I can't remember what it was, but it made me think that you envision cool wall colors and interesting rug layouts and such. Sadly I have no talent when it comes to that stuff. I would love for you to send us art for our walls! Confirm that you are serious and I'll message you our address. Or, if you're not serious, laugh that you tricked me.

I never kid about the mail. Email me. We'll chat about Van Gogh, Fingerpainting and pictures of old barns. What? This is the Midwest. We have lots of old barns. Also we can chat about the fact that apparently my Father-in-Law reads your blog and has taken an interest in PopSockets. I know this because he emailed a link to a YouTube video of one of you shakin' your thang. Hint: it's not you or Haruki. ;)

I popped in to make sure you don't feel bad about your lack of bed frames since my wife complains all the time we are sans couch... and what do I find?

So I guess instead I'll say that I love all the exposed wood. Beautiful.

Yeah, Joanna's not crazy about our new house, although it will be really nice as we update it over time. For me, it keeps the rain out. More important, I absolutely love the (lack of) neighborhood and how our 5 acres are laid out. We can change the house. Changing land is a little harder.

I'll tell David you love it when he exposes his wood, Mike. He will be so happy!And I agree with you (again) about the benefits of not having a neighborhood. Though I haven't seen it all, your situation with the woods seems ideal too.We are at approximately 6,500-7,000 feet. I'd guess. David would have to start a blog before you could get a definite answer on that one. At least then you'd be able to see pictures of his wood more often.

So late last night, about 1AM our time, I took a break from a pretty intensive project and some light weight PBR'ing. How did I spend that time? By stumbling upon a YouTube video of your David shaking his ass thanks to my Dad emailing the link after he read your blog and Googled PopSockets.

After that show, I came here as it reminded me about my topographical question...... and with the dancing still fresh in my mind, I get to read about the exposed wood. Well played, universe. Well played.

Sorry I don't have much bling to throw at David's KickStarter fund, but from what I saw, I have a few singles I'd like to slip him.